


The Whole Story

by Gb1223gb



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alex needs charlie, Charlie needs alex, Cute, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gb1223gb/pseuds/Gb1223gb
Summary: Alex looked over at Charlie in the drivers seat, his face mostly dark except for the small glare of moonlight on his skin, an the rare headlights of a passing car.“You’re pretty,” Alex said.“Pretty what?”“You’re pretty, you know, good looking, cute, beautiful, adorable, handsome, other synonyms,” Alex said, then chuckled.“Oh, that’s just the cookies talking”ormy interpretation of what happened in all of the gaps we didn't see of charlie and Alex, both independently and together.
Relationships: Charlie St. George & Luke Holliday, Charlie St. George/Alex Standall, Jessica Davis & Alex Standall, Zach Dempsey & Alex Standall
Comments: 30
Kudos: 109





	1. Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is set in the gaps of time in S4E5 of 13RW and is the first of many chapters to come, later chapters will be set in the other episodes, going through and filling in the other gaps of time . Thank you for reading :)  
> This is my first fic ever, so please be kind :) And if you have any advice for me please leave it in the comments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SIDE NOTE: Yes, I know there are a few details that I changed. They aren't really super important or Story changing details, I just changed them to fit my imagination :)

He wasn't sure why he was nervous, all he was going to do was tell him that the party had been canceled, “ _I mean that's all there is to it, right?_ ” Charlie thought as he was about to enter the classroom.

But something had changed, well it had been changing for a while now, but he was just now noticing. It started small, he started realizing that he saw Alex in a different way than any of his other buddies.

He would think of him when he wasn't even trying.

The corners of his mouth would automatically turn up slightly any time his name was mentioned.

When he walked in the room, it didn't matter who was talking or what he was doing, almost all of his focus would be on Alex.

He didn't know what it meant. He was just so confused because the only other people that made him feel like this before were girls (oh and of course Eli Manning but that was totally different). It felt like a crush, like a classic middle school crush. But he wasn't gay...was he? He knew the feelings he had felt for girls in the past were definitely real, and he had definitely had a few awkward...situations...while watching the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders on the T.V., so he knew he wasn't gay, but he had never considered the thought of being bi.

He was still pacing outside the classroom, nervously contemplating the risk of walking in the classroom and making a complete idiot out of himself while talking to Alex. Luckily, however,

"Charlie, you ok?" Tony asked with a concerning tone while reaching up and placing a hand on the back of the quarterback's shoulder.

Charlie jumped slightly and gasped since it felt like Tony just woke him up from a dream. "uhh...Yeah, yeah, I'm fine tony." he said shaking his head and smiling nervously at his shorter friend.

"You don't look fine" tony chuckled "you seem nervous, what's up man?"

"I'm fine really, I'm just slightly, uh, confused, I guess. But just as a quick question that has nothing to do with my current state, um how did you know you were gay?"

"Oh! Well...", Tony replied kind of shocked at the sudden topic change, "I uh, I guess I just knew. Like I didn't feel natural being with girls. It did feel right to me. Then I slowly developed feelings for guys, I started seeing them differently."

"Ok, wellllll I gotta go to class, bye Tony!" Charlie said very quickly while turning away and walking into the classroom he had been so nervous to enter just 2 minutes ago.

"Uh, Bye Charlie" tony walked away having a slight case of Deja vu from when Alex asked him that same question not too long ago.

When Charlie walked in, he stood in the middle of the room for a minute just staring at Alex. Talking in his feelings about him and just trying to come terms with he feels about the older boy. then, while just standing there looking at him, he felt his heart warm up and his stomach fill with butterflies as he slowly walked towards the desk next to Alex. At that moment, all of his doubts and all of his nervousness and confusion went away, he just knew, he knew he wanted Alex to be more than a friend, he knew at that moment, he was Bi-sexual.

So he sat down and said to Alex

“did you hear? Find-your-drink got canceled.”

___________________________________________________

Alex was walking in the halls after 5th period, just thinking about random stuff, when a familiar voice called his name

“Alex! Hey Alex wait up” Charlie Saint George called as he did a funny little jog up to Alex.

“Hey Charlie”

“whatcha-doing’” Charlie said, then Alex could see the look of regret that instantly consumed his face. “…uh, well obviously you’re walking to 6th, sorry” Charlie chuckled. Alex could tell he was avoiding making eye contact because of how embarrassed he was. But Alex didn’t know why Charlie was acting differently. He had been acting like this since the camping trip, well, maybe a little bit before. But Alex had been confused because he and Charlie had been hanging out like all summer, with Tyler, and the taller boy had been fine all summer. And when he would make cute little mistakes like the one he just made, he would laugh it off, not get embarrassed and avoid eye contact. But Alex knew better than to ask him about it because he knew he would just do that sweet little flustered thing he does, where he starts awkwardly laughing and stuttering and he can’t make complete sentences. The thought of him doing that though did make him smile. “uh, anyways, so find-your-drink is back on. And I know you said you didn’t think you would go, but I was hoping you would because I need an excuse.”

“What do you mean? What kind of excuse?” Alex said with a little laugh at the end.

“well as the quarterback of the football team, the guys know a lot about me” the younger boy started “and one of the things they know is that I’m a virgin, so when I go to parties like these, they throw like half the girls they meet at me. However, if you were there I would have an excuse not to talk to them. So I would just say ‘oh sorry, I see my friend over there I’ll talk to you later’ and then I won’t”

“Charlie Saint George, are you going to lie to those poor girls?” Alex said with an accusatory tone

“Yes, but if it makes you feel any better I could just do what I normally do which is go and find an abandoned room with a tv and wait the party out,” Charlie told the older boy while giving him one of his classic smiles.

“Sorry Charlie…haha see what I did there” Alex said as Charlie rolled his eyes “I don’t think I’m going to go, but you should actually try and have fun at this party, maybe use Zach as an excuse or something.

“no, it can’t be Zach, he always disappears halfway through the party, usually off with some girl,” Charlie told Alex. “it's fine, I guess. I’ll just sit in a room… all alone…doing nothing…totally not depressing at all” Charlie said in a way where Alex could tell he was just trying to guilt-trip him into going.

“I’ll tell you what, IF I go, and I mean if, I won’t be your excuse, but,” Alex said smiling and giving into what Charlie wanted “I’ll find the abandoned room with a tv, and if you get too many girls ‘thrown’ at you, come find me and we can sit and watch a movie while waiting the party out.”

“Really? That sounds really great actually. Well then, I hope to see you there” Charlie said with a huge smile on his face “Bye, Alex.”

“Bye Charlie” and Alex didn’t know why but he could stop himself from looking at Charlie the whole time as he walked away and disappeared around the corner to get to his class. Alex hadn’t noticed but he had a big smile on his face.

“what’re you so happy about Alex?” Tyler asked him as he walked into the class

“What?”

“well you have this big smile on your face, what’s it about?”

“oh, nothing really.”

“ok, well are you going to find-your-drink?”

“you know Tyler, 3 minutes ago I would have told you absolutely not, but now I’m thinking I might actually go”

“really? That’s great Alex, I hope I’ll see you there.”

________________________________________________

Alex contemplated not going, but then he thought about Charlie sitting in a room all alone and he just felt like he had to. That boy should never be sad, he makes everyone too happy for him to be sad.

“Hey,” Zach said as he answered his phone.

“Hey Zach, so um… I was, um… you know, hoping that um… maybe you could um…”

“My God Standall spit it the fuck out.”

“Could you take me to the find-your-drink-party?”

“Wait…I’m sorry could you repeat that, cause it sounded like you just asked me to take you, Alex “Party-pooper” Standall, to a party.”

“shut the fuck up Zach,” Alex could hear Zach chuckling on the other line, “so can you take me or not?”

“Yeah, of course I can take you, but someone else will have to take you home cause I’m definitely getting trashed tonight.”

“ok pick me up at 7,” Alex quickly hung up the phone so Zach didn’t have another chance to mock him, and he just knew the mocking would get worse if Zach found out the real reason why he decided to go to the party.

[SWICH TO CHARLIE]

Charlie was carefully picking out what to wear, he didn’t want to look like he was trying too hard, but he wanted to look good. Since his realization in the hall earlier that day, he’s wanted to be around Alex, and he wants to tell Alex about his realization too, but it was too soon, and he was sure he wouldn’t feel the same way. Alex was on his mind all the time and he just wanted to look good for him, so he finally picked out what he was going to wear, got and his car, and drove to the party.

\-------------------------------------

When Alex and Zach arrived in the house, Zach told Alex “hey man, I love you, but you’re on your own for this party.”

“ok, that’s fine, I should see you tomorrow though, right?”

“Yeah, man, sure,” Zach said while half paying attention to what Alex was saying. Alex watched as Zach ran up to Luke and immediately took a random cup from the table next to him, and drank the whole thing.

Alex, watching the whole thing occur, just shook his head and laughed in slight disappointment of his friend. Now, Alex knew exactly what he wanted to do, he wanted to find a room that no one was in, of course with a T.V., and just sit in there and wait for Charlie. So that’s exactly what he did he found a room and chose a movie, yes he actually chose a movie (“It’s a wonderful life”).

[SWICH TO CHARLIE]

“Saint George, come here!” Diego called across the kitchen.

Charlie walked over and as he did, he saw why Diego called him, there was a beautiful drunk girl right next to him, waiting to be “thrown” his way. “Hey Diego.”

“Hey man, this is Elena. Elena, this is Charlie. He’s the quarterback of the football team, super nice, and as you can tell, he’s a cutie”

“Hi Charlie.”

“Hey Elena, I have to go to the bathroom, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”

“Ok,” Elena said while stumbling and twirling her hair

Having just escaped torture, Charlie sighed in relief, he went upstairs, as there weren’t a lot of people up there, and he was hoping to god that if he found an abandoned room, maybe just maybe, Alex would be in it. So, he looked and looked in all of the rooms upstairs, and he found nothing. Just a bunch of empty rooms, and occasionally, he’d see two people making out, but no Alex. By this time, he actually had to go to the bathroom, so he went downstairs. While looking for the bathroom he passed a room and he could hear something playing on the tv, so he quickly went to the bathroom and came back to that room. He walked in and saw Alex.

When he looked at him, Charlie’s face instantly lit up, his heart warmed and he felt so happy. He was so happy he was here, and he was so happy about what was to come. He was about to spend quality time with Alex, just the two of them. That’s all he wanted.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The party was dying down and Alex had fallen asleep on Charlie’s shoulder, it was time for them to get out of there, they had waited the party out long enough, and he was pretty sure that Alex would want to go home.

“Alex, hey, Alex. wake up sleepyhead,” Charlie said while lightly shaking Alex awake.

“Hmm, what? I wasn’t asleep” Alex said lethargically, rubbing his eyes then yawning.

“Oh yeah? Tell that to the puddle of drool on my shirt” Charlie said laughing and pointing at his shoulder.

“Ok fine, I guess I took a little nap, but I blame you. Your shoulder was calling my name and I just had to.” He said in a flirty manner looking into Charlie’s eyes, Charlie looking back at him.

“Yeah, you definitely shouldn’t have had that second cookie,” Charlie laughed because he knew the younger boy would never be flirting with him if he wasn’t ‘extremely high right now.’ “It’s time to go home Alex. Who took you here?”

“Zach did, but he told me he wouldn’t take me home cause he’ll be too ‘trashed’ to drive, so I need to find a ride”

“I’ll take you home. I drove here, I can drive you home.”

“But aren’t you high?” Alex asked.

“No, I didn’t have any cookies.”

“Oh, ok, sounds good.”

Alex and Charlie walked to Charlie’s car, and started to drive to Alex’s house, he knew where it was because of all the late nights they spent at Tyler's house, and he had to take him home because he wouldn’t let him walk home.

Alex looked over at Charlie in the driver's seat, his face mostly dark except for the small glare of moonlight on his skin, and the rare headlights of a passing car.

“You’re pretty,” Alex said.

“Pretty what?” Charlie said, assuming there was more to what he was saying.

“You’re pretty, you know, good looking, cute, beautiful, adorable, handsome, other synonyms,” Alex said, then chuckled.

“Oh, that’s just the cookies talking.”

“No, it’s not, it’s me talking. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while now. You’re cute, and you’re really sweet. You’re really sweet to me, even after all of the horrible things that I’ve done. I don’t deserve that, and yet, you’re sweet to me anyways.” Alex said just staring out the passenger side window.

“Alex stop” Charlie kept driving “Alex listen to me ok me, ok. You deserve to be happy. That’s why I’m nice to you. I can see ho much you hurt sometimes, and if I can make just a little bit of that hurt go away, then that’ll make me happy. You’re one of the kindest, most caring people I know. And yeah, you have done some bad things, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve happiness. I just want to make you happy, because you make me happy. You make me happy without even trying. When I look at you I feel better.” Charlie confessed as he pulled over. “ok Alex, were here”

He got no response.

“Alex?” he said as he glanced over to see a sleeping Alex in the passenger seat of his car. Realizing the older boy hadn’t heard his confession, he shook him awake for the second time in the past hour.

“Thanks for taking me home. Has anyone told you you’re really sweet” Alex said to Charlie for the second time.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

“Bye Charlie, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Alex waved goodbye as he was walking up to his front door.

Charlie watched as the smaller boy struggled with the lock and eventually got in, he sat in the car and looked at the door for a minute before driving away.

A part of him wished Alex had been awake and heard his confession, but he knew it was for the best, he’d tell him soon enough.

When Charlie got home, he wasn’t tired, so he was looking up stuff on his computer. He looked up Alex and the news story on his injury. It said he had a TBI, a traumatic brain injury. He looked up what the entailed, he wanted to know what Alex had gone through and how he could maybe help him. He saw that sometimes people with TBIs get hallucinatory like imaginations of people they love, sometimes they can see them, but more likely they can hear their voices, like their actually there. The person can also be overwhelmed easily and can get agitated easily. He read all of the articles he saw and read about what the boy he liked was going through. He figured the more he knew, the better prepared he would be if anything happened to him.

He started to get tired, he looked at the clock and it was 4:30 am. Luckily, however, he didn’t have school in the morning, so he knew he wouldn’t regret his decision to stay up too much. He turned off his laptop and got into bed. He quickly fell asleep and dreamed of Eli Manning.


	2. Study Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set in between s4e5 and s4e6 because there's not a lot of in-between stuff that's missing in e6.  
> the next chapter will be set after s4e6 and the missing sections of s4e7.

It was 8:00 on Wednesday night, Alex had just finished eating dinner with his family, and went upstairs to study for a Spanish test he had tomorrow.

As he was studying, he could not keep his mind from wandering,

Why did Charlie ask him if he remembered what happened after the party? What had happened after he had that second cookie? Did he do something embarrassing? Did he say something embarrassing? As his mind went through all of the horrifying possibilities, his phone buzzed. He looked down and saw Charlie’s name flash up on his screen, or to be more accurate, it said “Cookies St. George”. Alex’s heart fluttered a bit as he pictured Charlie’s goofy smile when he read it. But then a pit formed in his stomach, what had he done while he was high on Charlie’s “Special cookies”.

**Earlier that day**

Alex was in the cafeteria with earbuds in his hears, listening to “These Days” by Wallows. He was poking at his food, not really eating. His mind was busy, unable to notice anything. It was as if everything else besides his music and his now mushed up food, was like the grey static on the tv when there’s nothing connected to it. He was drifting into his thoughts and worries. But then someone sat down in front of him and woke him from his daydreaming session.

“Hey, Alex, earth to Alex.”

“Oh, hey,” Alex said with an unimpressed sigh, looking up to meet the all too familiar face of Jessica Davis sitting across from him.

“Someone’s happy today. What’s on your mind?” Jess said while taking a bite of Alex’s food.

“Just stuff.”

“Stuff like homework stuff, or stuff like _Winston_ stuff?”

“Hey, we don’t speak that name anymore, just hearing it makes me want to vomit. And FYI I was thinking about Charlie,” Alex said in a very ‘matter-of-fact’ way.

“Oooooo, does someone have a new crush already?” Jess said giggling

“Absolutely not. I’m just worried about him, have you seen him since find-your-drink?” Alex said, he just scoffed off the idea of him and Charlie being a thing. He didn’t have a crush on anyone, let alone the captain of the football team. Although he could admit, he was pretty.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t, but I’m sure he’s fine. Have you tried texting or calling him?” Jess questioned.

“Uh ‘have I tried-’ yes Jess, I have tried calling and texting him. 5 calls and 28 texts to be exact. I’m worried Jess, what if something happened to him, or what if something happened to his dad, he’s all he has you know.” Alex said while talking extremely fast.

“Alex, you need to breathe. I’m sure he’s just sick or something, and he probably got grounded from his phone. That tends to happen after big parties that almost all of the parents in the school district know about. Especially when your dad is the president of the school board.” Jess said, trying to calm an anxious Alex down.

Alex sighed, “you’re probably right, I’m probably way overthinking this. Speaking of Charlie though, have you noticed anything different about him. Cause lately he’s been acting-” Alex stopped as he looked up and saw Jess had gotten up and gone over to Diego, who had just walked into the cafeteria.

He got up and threw away his barely eaten, mushy food, then walked to the library, to study for his Spanish test. As he was walking, he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. Because he was just thinking about Charlie, he quickly grabbed it and looked at the screen. It was what he had been waiting for, for the past 4 days: a text from Charlie.

It read “Hey Alex, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to talk to you lately, I have been sick, and my dad found out about the cookies I brought to the party, so he took my phone away. I’m really, really sorry, I can tell I worried you.”

Alex typed so fast, his heart racing at the same speed his thumbs were. “No shit I was worried! My brain just kept on making up shit about what had happened to you. And I just don’t know what I would have done if something did happen.” he thought about hitting send, but he thought it sounded like too much. So, he erased that and instead wrote. “I wasn’t that worried, I just wanted to ask you a few questions about Spanish, since I have a test tomorrow, and Justin told me you were good at it.” He hit send while letting out a huge sigh of relief. Charlie was ok.

**_SWITCH TO CHARLIE_ **

He read the text and couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the older boy’s response. A small part of him was hoping Alex was worried about him because that would mean he cared. But Charlie, being the positive, bright light of sunshine that he is, just replied “ok! I’ll be back tomorrow, so either before school or during lunch we can meet up in the library and we can study!” then he added a big smiling Emoji and hit send.

Alex replied with a simple “Ok.”

Because his mind was on Alex, he remembered his confession to Alex in the car. Alex was acting weird; he called a bunch of times and he didn’t believe it was only for Spanish. Then he thought about Alex’s quick, short responses, and the fact that it felt like he didn’t care that he was gone. Did the brunette remember his confession? Was he awake and just felt too awkward about his confession to say anything? Did he want to talk about it? Was he creeped out by it? Charlie felt slightly sick to his stomach, and not just because he was recovering from a stomach virus. He felt anxious. all of the questions just circled in his brain, so he did the only thing he could think of. He asked him.

“Quick question, do you remember what happened after the party?” he hit send and stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

“Not really, its all really fuzzy. You were right, I shouldn’t have had that second cookie lol.”

Charlie sighed audibly in immense relief. Then he saw another text from Alex.

“Why? Do you remember?” he questioned.

“I was just wondering. And yeah, I do, I didn’t have any cookies. I drove you home that night.”

“Oh lol, ok.” He replied.

_**SWITCH BACK TO ALEX** _

He wrote “lol” but in no way was he laughing. He was panicking. But he got distracted by the bell, signaling that it was time for him to go to class. Shit, he spent the whole time thinking about Charlie and the events after the party that he couldn’t remember. He cleaned up his papers and walked to his next class, Spanish.

**_AAAAND BACK TO COOKIES ST. GEORGE_ **

He looked at his phone, it was 8:30 pm. He had just finished eating the dinner he had made for himself. His dad wasn’t home yet, and he couldn’t keep his mind from wandering to Alex. He was trying to get used to the fact that he had a crush on him. He had never had a crush on a boy before, at least not that he noticed. But he kept thinking about him, more than he ever had about any girl he had a crush on. Maybe it was more than that. Maybe his feelings were deeper than that. There was only one way he would know for sure. He had to see him. Now.

He ran upstairs and grabbed his phone. He quickly pulled up his messages from Alex and started typing “Hey Alex, this may sound weird, but could you maybe come over to my house. I was thinking we could get a head start on studying for Spanish,” he hit send and bit his nails, waiting nervously for a response.

“Yeah, I’ll start walking over now. Be there in 10,” Alex replied

His text was so short and simple but the thought of Alex coming over made Charlie smile bigger than he had in a long time (which is saying a lot, considering its Charlie). He hopped up from his bed, where his phone was, and ran into the bathroom. He fixed his hair and rinsed with mouthwash. Then he went back into his room where he put on a white t-shirt and the pair of sweatpants that he knew he looked good In because a girl had once cat-called him at the mall, saying “Daaaamn boy, you look fine in those sweatpants! Mmmm mmmm.” And not to be cocky or anything, but he looked in the mirror after putting them on and he had to admit, his ass did look good in them.

He then put on a pair of white socks, completing his “I-look-like-this-all-the-time/I’m-definitely-not trying-too-hard/lazy-but-hot” look.

Then he looked out his second-floor bedroom window and saw Alex walking past the house that was 5 doors down from his. He ran downstairs and made sure everything was neat and tidy. He then grabbed his backpack and pulled out all his Spanish notebook, and set it at his kitchen table. He fluffed all the pillows on the couch and made sure it looked cozy. (he was really nervous).

_**SWITCH TO ALEX** _

He had his earbuds in his ears like before. And just like before, everything else around him turned to static as he was lost in his thoughts about Charlie. Why did he really want Alex to come over? Was it because of what happened after the party? Was he uncomfortable with what he had said or done? God, what happened? That is all he wanted to know. Although, there is of course the possibility that the reason Charlie invited him over, was JUST to study Spanish. Alex scoffed at that idea, nothing in his life was ever that simple.

He walked up to the front door to Charlie’s house. It was big, but not huge, and it looked like they had recently redone because it had a modern feel to it. It was a really nice house. He knocked on the door and waited for Charlie to open it.

“Just a minute!” Charlie shouted. Alex could hear it faintly and he didn’t know why but it made him grin a bit when he heard it.

When Charlie opened the door, he was smiling all big. Alex looked him up and down. Damn. He looked good in those sweatpants. “What?” Charlie said.

“Hmm?” Alex said looking confused.

“You said ‘damn’” Charlie replied.

“Oh, sorry uh… I just remembered uh… I forgot to tell my parents where I was going. I’ll just text them.”

“…Ok. come on in!” Charlie said with a chuckle.

Shit. He said that out loud. Fuck. He wanted to just curl up into a ball and die. But unfortunately, he couldn’t. Instead he walked into Charlie’s house, kicked off his shoes, and let Charlie lead the way. Partially because he didn’t know where Charlie wanted them to study, and partially because he wanted to see Charlie’s ass in those sweatpants. How did he look this good? Wasn’t he sick?

He then realized what he was doing, he was drooling over the fucking captain of the football team. Goddammit. Jess got in his head.

They studied for a good hour and then Alex was done. He was tired and he honestly just didn’t want to study anymore. But there was something else. He didn’t want to leave.

**_SWITCH TO CHARLIE_ **

He got up from the kitchen table and walked over to the fridge

“Do you want anything to drink?”

“No, I already ate,” Alex replied.

“Did you hear what I said?” Charlie said, amused by the smaller boys response.

“Huh”

Charlie laughed.

“What’s on your mind, Alex?”

“What?... Nothing” Alex said, finally coming back to the world

“It doesn’t seem like nothing”

“No, it’s _literally_ nothing. Nothing is on my mind. My brain is fried from all of this Spanish shit.”

Charlie laughed at what Alex said. 

“Here,” Charlie said, handing him a glass of water.

“Thanks,” Alex replied, not looking up at him. Charlie had noticed that he’d been doing that since he came into the house. He hadn’t made real eye contact since he first opened the door. He could tell something was up

“What?” Charlie said

“I said ‘thanks’. Because that’s what people say when they are given things by someone else. I'd think that you would know this since you have the manners of a southern gentleman.” Alex said very sarcastically, still not making eye contact.

“Ha Ha, so funny. No, I mean what’s up. You haven’t looked me in the eyes since you got here. Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?” Charlie said as he withheld the urge to grab his hand.

“Sorry, uh… I guess I-… its stupid” he said while shaking his head, still not looking up from the table.

“Seriously, what is it.” Charlie insisted

“Seriously, its stupid” Alex said, kind of mocking Charlie’s tone.

“Alexander”

“Charles,” still mocking.

“What is it?” Charlie pressed.

“I’m just nervous!” Alex blurted out. And Charlie could see the instant regret on his face.

“What? You’re nervous? Why are you nervous?” Charlie said in astonishment. He couldn’t believe what he heard. Why would Alex be nervous? His mind raced through all of the possibilities. One of which made him giddy.

“Cause” he said reluctantly

“Really? ‘cause’, are we gonna have to do this again. Cause I will.” He waited for a response, while staring at the top of Alex’s head, but got nothing. “Alexander Dean Standall, why are you nervous?” Charlie asked. And man, that urge to hold his hand just kept on growing.

“Cause Jess said something today and it kinda freaked me out and you're wearing those sweatpants and I’m just really really confused.” Alex said all of this without taking a breath.

Charlie just stared at him, after being bombarded by all of the information he just received. He was trying to sort out what all he had said. One word in particular made him grin a little bit ‘sweatpants’. Alex thought he looked good in his sweatpants. Or at least that what he thought he meant by that.

“What do you mean, What did Jess say?”

“ it doesn’t matter.”

Clearly it did. 

“Seriously Alex.” Charlie insisted 

“Fine” Alex said, finally making eye contact with him. “She said that she thought I had a crush on you as a joke, cause I was worried about you earlier today. And I blew it off cause 1. you don't like guys, and 2. you’re a football player and I would never fall for a football player. then when I saw you, you just-... those damn sweatpants messed with my fucking head.”

Charlie heard everything he said, but he only really cared about one thing “so you were worried about me,” he said, giving Alex one of his classic smiles.

“Fuck you,” Alex said while laughing.

Charlie laughed and just said, “do you want to watch tv?”

“Yes please,” Alex replied 

SWITCH TO ALEX

Fuck.

Shit

Goddamnit.

Ahhhhhhh.

Why? Why did he say anything? Now it's even more awkward. He just had to open his stupid fucking mouth. He didn’t think it could get any worse than the incident at the front door but guess what. He fucked it up again. 

“What do you want to watch?” Charlie said

“I don’t care, whatever you want,” he replied. His mind was too busy replaying what had just happened to really process anything. 

“Ok, how’s Friends sound?”

“Great.”

“Awesome,'' Charlie said, smiling again.

How was he acting normal? Alex had just basically said “you're hot” and drooled all over him. But the taller boy was acting like nothing happened, if anything he seemed happier. So Alex tried his best to go with it. 

Charlie sat down right next to Alex. And as the minutes passed, they ended up touching at the shoulders

“This show is so funny, no matter how many times you watch it” Charlie said while staring at the screen

“Agreed, it's so great,” Alex replied.

“Do you mind if I turn off the lights, there's a glare on the tv.” Charlie politely asked, even though it was his house.

“Not at all, go for it,” Alex said. He watched the taller boy get up and walk over to the light switch. He couldn't get enough of his long legs in those black sweatpants. He then started to feel the absence of contact on his right shoulder. And when Charlie sat back down, he sat farther away than he was before he got up. So Alex, feeling bold for what was probably the second time in his life, decided to scooch a little closer to him.

The taller boy glanced over when he did. He then scooched closer to Alex, which made his heart start to race a little. They went back and forth, repeating the same motions until they were back where they were. 

As Alex was laughing at the show, Charlie looked down towards their hands. They must have touched when Alex had laughed. But instead of pulling away as Alex assumed he would, he left it there. Which of course made Alex's heart race even faster, but he didn't want to say anything as he was afraid he'd make a fool out of himself again, so he waited for something else to happen. And something did. 

The front door opened, it was Charlie's dad. 

Charlie jumped slightly and moved his hand away from Alex’s 

He knew it. He knew Charlie didn't like him. He just overthought the situation. I mean, Charlie was a jock, and there’s no such thing as a gay jock. That just doesn’t happen. 

After a quick introductory chat with Charlie's dad, he grabbed his bag and phone and said goodbye to Charlie. He then walked home and was able to replay all of the awkward, cringy, and embarrassing moments of the night as he did.

**_SWITCH TO CHARLIE_ **

Charlie went upstairs after talking about his day with his dad. He laid in his bed staring up at the ceiling. What the hell happened today. He remembered what Alex had said 'I would never fall for a football player' that caused an ache in his chest. However, everything else that Alex had said and done kind of contradicted that statement, so that eased his pain. Charlie thought the study session might clear up some confusion, and it did. He was no longer confused about if he liked Alex or not, that he knew for sure. But what Alex said today made him so confused about how he should act. Should he pretend like nothing happened? Should he talk to him about it? He wanted to ask someone but there was no one he could think of. So he decided he’d just wait until tomorrow until he saw Alex’s beautiful face. Once he saw him, he’d know what to do. He always did.


	3. Denying the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens before and in between the scenes of S4 E7. Charlie becomes sad boi.

Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod AHHHHHH 

That really happened. It finally happened. He kissed Alex Standall!

When he got home, all he wanted to do was text him, but he decided not to because he didn’t want to come off as desperate. 

He ran up stairs and laid on his bed, his mind going through a million thoughts about Alex and what everything meant. He kissed him back, which clearly meant something. It had to. And the kiss wasn’t just a peck on the lips, it had feelings behind it. Charlie was so happy and he didn’t know any other way to express his happiness. So he ran downstairs and baked his heart out. He made 5 batches of cookies, all different flavors. 

4 hours later, after he baked all of them, his dad got home.

“Woah, someone’s happy. I heard what happened at school today, I’ve received at least 10 phone calls from concerned parents in the past 5 hours, so why are you so happy?” Charlie’s dad said, a little confused.

“Oh, it was just something that happened after. Nothing too exciting” Charlie ~~said~~ lied.

“Ok, well I’ve got to go work on getting this lock-down situation sorted out.”

“Ok! Sounds good. I’ll be packing these up into bags. I’m going to hand them out at school tomorrow,” Charlie said. A smile had been permanently on his face, and he couldn’t make it go away if he wanted to (he didn’t).

He went upstairs after he was done packaging all of the cookies. He laid on his bed just staring at his ceiling fan (again). That’s what he did when he had a lot of thoughts he had to deal with. Eventually, he just fell asleep, thinking about Alex.

_**SWITCH TO ALEX** _

Well fuck. He did it. He fell for the captain of the football team. Someone he never thought he’d fall for. But that was the issue, he'd never fall for him. I mean sure, he was definitely hot, and the whole sweatpants thing. But he didn’t really like him.

It was the stress mixed with all of the crazy emotions going through his head. It must have been that he saved him too. I mean, that’s why he kissed Zach up on that roof because he saved him and he held him when he really needed it. That’s what it was, it was just happening again.

He repeated that in his head. He hoped that Charlie would feel the same way. Mostly just because he didn’t want to mess up charlie, I mean he was literally one of the, if not _the_ sweetest most innocent guy in the world. And Alex, he would never use those words to describe himself, especially innocent. He just couldn’t pull him down, he didn’t deserve that.

\---

The next day, he wasn't in a good mood, he was panicked after hearing officer Diaz talking with his dad about Bryce's case. and on top of that, everything that happened with Tyler yesterday. He was so anxious that something would happen , he didn't even think about Charlie and all of that drama. Plus, he had a college interview and if that wasn't enough, he had a history test too. 

So he went to school, there he saw yet another thing that concerned him. Tyler was at school, and he looked like nothing happened. How could he just be here, after yesterday. So he ran up to Tony when he saw him.

“Hey, did you see Tyler?” Alex said anxiously. 

“Yes, and don't tell anyone about yesterday, Ok. I'll deal with it.” Tony replied, then he walked off before Alex could get another word in.

What the fuck. Could today get any worse?

_**SWITCH TO CHARLIE** _

After weight room, Charlie had to go to the library, as Luke and some other guys wanted the answers to the math homework, and Charlie is usually who they got them from. So as he headed up there a few minutes before the guys got there, he saw him.

Alex Standall. When he saw him, it was just like he thought. He knew exactly what he was going to do. So he ran up behind him and gave him a ‘titanic king-of-the-word’ hug

\---

After Luke called him over, he couldn't even think about math.

He was heart broken. He thought he knew for sure that Alex and him would be a thing. After all, they had kissed, and it was a good kiss at that. He was staring off into space thinking about what he did wrong, and how he could fix it. Then he remembered what Alex had said. He seemed stressed and for good reason. Tyler was back like nothing had happened, he had a college interview, and he honestly probably still wasn't fully Ok after Thursday. So he thought of a plan.

He would wait after school for Alex's interview to be done, and he would support him as much as he could. Then they could talk about what they are and where this thing they had was going. He wasn't going to give up. He knew that for sure.

_**SWITCH TO ALEX** _

He thought of Charlie’s face. He’d never really seen him look like that. It was pure heartbreak and hurt. He felt horrible for making him feel that way, but he had to. it was the only way to protect him from how fucked up he is. He didn’t deserve someone like Charlie. But, he couldn’t think about Charlie and all of the other shit going on. He had a college interview to go to and he had to take his mind off of all of it, if he wanted to do well. Even though he didn't think he deserved to go to college. He was too fucked up. 

As his mind wandered and his anxiety continued to do its thing, the lady called his name and he went into the interview.

\---

After he blew off Charlie, he had to go somewhere. He didn't want to go home and he sure as hell wasn't going to stay at the school, so he went to the one place he felt sort of at peace. The pier. So he started walking.

When he got to the pier, he thought about all of the messed up stuff going on in his life. 

The stupid drill, Tyler, Winston, the fact that the police might be opening Bryce's case back up, then his mind landed on a tall, adorable, sweet quarterback. Charlie St. George. 

He wasn't giving up like Alex had hoped he would. He kept on going and following him around. Alex had denied that he had feelings for him, but the more he thought about his beautiful piercing blue eyes, his classic smile, his positive attitude about everything, his confidence, his long legs, and those fucking sweatpants, he realized he had actual feelings for him. It wasn't just that he had saved him, he actually liked him.

And that was the bad part. He couldn't be with somebody so perfect. I mean he was already in awe about how someone like that could like him and want to be with him, even when he knew about all of the things he's done. So he did the only thing he could think of. He pushed him away.

_**SWITCH TO CHARLIE** _

How could he say that. That he was so fucked up that Charlie would be better off without him.

He knew he was just doing that self-depreciating thing where he said that he didn't deserve happiness. Charlie would do anything to make Alex see how amazing he was. He just needed to talk to him and tell him how much he deserves to be happy and how he wants to be with him.

He was breaking his heart. He just wanted to be with him, but he still wouldn't give up. He _couldn’t_ give up on him. So he looked for him, he went to Zach's house, and Jessica's, he went to Monet’s, and finally he went to Alex's house. He knocked on the door and alex’s mom answered

“Hi Mrs. Standall, is Alex here?” Charlie politely asked, with a smile on his face.

“No, he's not here. Why do you need him?” she replied.

“Oh… um… he came over to my house the other day to study for Spanish, and we said we'd meet up today to study, but he must have forgotten because he didn't show up.”

“Um, let me think...Have you tried Monet's, or maybe Jessica Davis’ house?.” Mrs. Standall asked

“Yes Ma’am, I have, he wasn't there”

“Ok, sometimes when he's upset, he goes to the pier, maybe try there” 

“Ok, I will. Thank you so much! Have a good day!” Charlie replied

He walked to his car and drove to the pier, and surly enough, there was Alex. Leaning on the rails, his beautiful blue eyes staring at the water. 

\---

Wow. I guess he was wrong. Maybe it wasn't just that Alex thought he didn't deserve happiness, it was just that he didn't want Charlie. Charlie just sat in his room, replaying what happened in his head. He realized that it must have been him. Alex said they shouldn't be together, not that he shouldn't be with anyone. So he did what he said he wouldn't do. He gave up. He didn't go after Alex anymore and that hurt him so much. His heart ached every time he saw him, and he couldn't get him out of his head. He had real, deep feelings for him. But he didn't want to get hurt anymore, so he gave up.

_**SWITCH TO ALEX** _

That hurt worse than he thought it would. The hurt in the sweet jock's eyes when he said not to follow him. He didn't want that to happen, but it was the only way he could get it through his head that they couldn't be together. He wanted to. So bad, but Charlie was too perfect and kind and all around incredible for someone as awful and fucked up as Alex. He deserved the world and Alex couldn't give him it. His heart ached every time he saw him and he couldn't get him out of his head. He had real, deep feelings for him. But he didn't want to ruin him, so he pushed him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really hard to write for me, so I'm sorry if its not as good as the rest have been. The next chapter is a lot better, I promise. 
> 
> also
> 
> The repetition at the end was purposeful, I was trying to show that both of them felt the same way about each other.


	4. Support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is only in between the scenes of S4 E8.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to add Luke in more since he and Charlie seemed close, but there weren't any of scenes with him and Charlie alone. and because luke was SOOOO cute and supportive of charlie and Alex's relationship at prom.

Alex’s mom took a picture of him with his Berkeley acceptance letter and posted it on Facebook. Meaning that when he went to school, he got plenty of people telling him how great it was and congratulating him. But he didn’t feel like he deserved it. Not college, not praise, nothing. And everyone bringing it up all the time didn't make it any better. 

However, when he was sat at lunch, listening to “The Fall” by half•alive, he realized that he didn't get congrats or anything from one person. Charlie. In the past, when Alex's mom had posted something on Facebook, charlie was the first one to say something to him about it. Like when his mom had posted a picture of Alex when he had bleached his hair and had a septum piercing, charlie had told him how he thought it was a good look, but he liked him better with his brown hair. Because he was just that sweet. 

But Alex couldn't help but feel the absence of Charlie's reaction to his news. Had he actually given up? And if so, was he ever going to talk to him again? Had he broken his heart? Just then, Charlie walked into the cafeteria.

_**SWITCH TO CHARLIE** _

As he walked into the cafeteria, he saw Alex look at him. He immediately avoided eye contact and sat with the football guys. He never looked at Alex for the rest of lunch, and when it came time for the class they had together. Charlie asked to switch seats with someone so he didn't have to sit next to him. It was too soon. He even unfollowed Alex's mom on Facebook, because it hurt him too much to be reminded of Alex right now. He was heartbroken.

Later that day, during football practice, he wasn't as happy, and he wasn't playing like himself, so much so that luke had noticed. So once practice had ended, and they were walking back to the locker rooms, Luke ran up to talk to him.

“Saint George, what's up man?”

“What do you mean, nothing's up. I’m fine,” Charlie replied, trying to fake it because he really didn't want to talk about it.

“Something is definitely up,” the bigger jock replied.

“Seriously, it's nothing.” he insisted

“Does it have something to do with how you like that Standall kid?” he guessed

Charlie's eyes got big. How did he know, he hadn't even told anyone he likes boys, let alone Alex. “W-what do you mean? How did you know that?” Charlie questioned.

“Well I saw your face after you talked to him the other day in the library, and you look the exact same right now. And the last time I remember you looking and acting like this was when Betty said she just wanted to be friends after homecoming, so I guess I just kinda figured it out.” Luke replied

Wow, he was a lot more observant than everyone gave him credit for. “Oh, uh… yeah. He’s just pushing me away, and I tried like 3 times to tell him that I wanted to be with him, but he just kept pushing me away, so I gave up. And now I just can't get him out of my head.” Charlie said, opening up to his friend.

“That sucks, man. I'm really sorry,” he said patting him on the back. “He would be lucky to have you, you're a great guy."

“Thanks, man, that means a lot,” Charlie replied.

“Hey you should come back to my house, maybe we could talk about it. Or we could just do stuff to take your mind off of all of it.” Luke suggested

“Yeah, ok. That sounds good” Charlie said.

_**SWITCH TO ALEX** _

After football practice was over, Alex waited outside the locker room for Zach. He had texted him saying he wanted to talk cause he had "had a pretty shit day."

As the players were walking out of the locker room, he saw Charlie walking next to luke. Luke glared at him and walked past Charlie.

“Hey Charlie” Alex waved

He didn't reply. Zach walked out as this happened and had a shocked look on his face

“What was that about? I've never seen that boy give up the chance to wave happily at someone.”

“It's a long story,” Alex said, his eyes still following Charlie as he walked away.

“Ok, well you're going to tell me about it after I tell you about the shit storm that was my day.”

“Ok, where do you want to go?” Alex said, now looking at Zach.

“Monet's” he replied putting an arm around Alex’s shoulder

\---

When they arrived at Monet’s, Alex went up and ordered their coffee. While he was waiting, Luke walked up to the counter.

“I have a To-Go order. It's under ‘Saint George,’” Luke said to the woman behind the counter.

Alex looked over at Luke when he said this. He and Charlie must be hanging out. Once Luke got his bag of food and two coffees, he glared at Alex as he had before. Alex wondered what this meant, what did Charlie tell him? 

\---

Shortly after Luke had left, Alex got him and Zach's coffees and sat down at a table with Zach.

“So tell me about your shit day,” Alex said.

“So Foundry called me into his office today, and basically informed me that I probably won't graduate this year.”

“Zach, what the fuck! Are you serious?” Alex asked 

“Yep, then I told him I was fine with it,”

“You weren't being serious, right?”

“Nope, I was. My life is over now, I can't play football anymore, and I just don't deserve to be happy, not after what happened with Bryce. So what's the point?” Zach said

“Zachary Dempsey, you do deserve to be happy. And you deserve to graduate, and go to college, and do whatever you want.” Alex said

“It doesn't matter anymore. I'll just work at the Walplex, or a fast-food restaurant, or some shit like that."

Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. His best friend was giving up. And he didn't think he deserved to be happy, Alex knew that he did. Just because he had done some fucked up stuff, and he couldn't play football, didn't mean he couldn’t be happy.

“So what’s the deal with you and Saint George?”

“I told you, its a long story”

“Well, I’ve got time, so spill”

"Fine. so, after the drill on Thursday, Charlie kissed me, and I kissed him back. But after everything, I thought it was just because he saved me, like what happened with you and me on the roof,” Alex explained. “Then the next day, he assumed we were a thing and I didn’t. So, I told him to stop, but he didn't. He kept on coming after me, and I just... I pushed him away because I didn't want to be with him."

“Why not?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Alex said, scrunching his eyebrows”

“Why don't you want to be with him?” Zach clarified.

“That doesn't matter. I just don't want to.” Alex deflected.

“Fine, don't tell me, but it seems like you really hurt him.” 

“I know, and I didn’t mean to. I just, I had to.” Alex explained.

Zach didn’t push an answer out of him, cause he didn’t want to make him upset. 

“Ok, well I’ve gotta get home so my mom doesn’t flip out on me again. You wanna walk home or ride with me?” he asked the smaller boy.

“I'll just walk,” Alex said.

_**SWITCH TO CHARLIE** _

“Where did you see him?” Charlie asked.

“At Monet’s, with Dempsey. He looked over at me when I said my order was under ‘Saint George’ and I gave him a dirty look, you know, cause he hurt you so bad,” Luke said, laughing maliciously.

“You didn’t. Luke, now he knows I told you something.”

“I don't care dude. He would be lucky to have you. I mean, if I was gay, you’d be the first guy I’d call.”

“Thanks, Luke,” Charlie said sarcastically. “Did you say anything to him?” 

“Nope, I just grabbed our shit, and left,” Luke replied.

“Ok, good. Also, don't tell anyone about this, ok?” Charlie said.

“Yeah man, your secret’s safe with me,” Luke reassured him.

"Ok, now can we drop this? I just want to stop thinking about it, I'm getting too sad.” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, of course, man, I just got a new videogame yesterday, it's all downloaded, you wanna play?” Luke asked, trying to change the topic.

“Sure,” Charlie said, grateful that they’d stopped talking about Alex.

He ended up sleeping over at Luke’s. And he tried his hardest not to let Alex creep into his head as he fell asleep.

_**SWITCH TO ALEX** _

The next day:

Alex got ready for school. Still anxious about all that had happened in the past week. Then Jess texted him and asked him to meet for coffee, which meant there was probably even more to be anxious about. 

He was right.

\---

But throwing all of that shit aside, 

Before the riot had started, and Zach had found him, he was sure he did the right thing. Letting Charlie go. He told himself over and over again that Charlie deserved so much better than him, and that he didn't deserve someone as good as Charlie. He must have thought that a million times. 

But when Zach had said “aren’t you tired of being afraid," somewhere in the back of his head, it reminded him of Charlie. Was he afraid of being happy? Is that why he pushed him away? He thought it was to protect Charlie, but maybe it was to protect himself from being happy.

No, even if that was true, he couldn’t fuck Charlie up, even if he wanted to be with him so fucking bad.

_**SWITCH TO CHARLIE** _

He didn't see him. Why wasn't he there, he was with Jess and then he was standing right in front of him before they walked out, why wasn't he there? He was panicking. He just kept on looking around for Alex's brown hair. And he thought in the back of his mind ‘if he still had his bleach blonde hair, he’d be much easier to spot right now.’

“Stop thinking about him,” Luke said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“what… who?”

“You're thinking about Standall, I can see it in your face.”

Damn, he was observant. “I just- I can't find him, and I'm worried.” Charlie nervously said.

“Listen, he pushed you away. And I get why you're worried about him, but you need to stop thinking about him, ok? Luke told him. “And if it makes you feel any better, if I see him, I'll tell you.

Charlie nodded.

_**SWITCH TO ALEX** _

It all clicked. Once Zach said those words so bluntly, he realized how much of a hypocrite he was. He had told Zach that he deserved to be happy and that his life wasn’t over, but he had been saying the exact opposite to himself. Did he really think he deserved or ever could be happy? No. But now, at this moment when he was running through the halls, to get to Charlie, he wasn't afraid to try.

As he ran outside and called his name, his heart was racing. There was so much going on, police pushing people around, people shouting and fighting back, but all he could think about was finding charlie. Then he saw him. He looked so helpless and hurt, so he ran as fast as he could, running into someone as he did, and he tried to wake him up. “Charlie, wake up. Please wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So while I was rewatching season 4 (for the 4th time), I noticed Dean Foundry said that it had been a week from the end of e8 to the beginning of e9. which means there's A LOT of Chalex stuff that happens. and since a lot changed from e8 to e9, I was wondering if yall think I should split that week into 2 chapters or just have 1 long-ish chapter? Let me know what you think in the comments.


	5. Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is one of 2 or 3 chapters of what happened between S4e8 and e9. I hope you like it!! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of dialogue and not as much other stuff, the next chapter has more of their thoughts.

“Please, please Charlie just wake up,” Alex said, he was tearing up.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Is he ok? Luke said, basically falling to the ground beside them.

"Jesus, Charlie, please. I’m so sorry, I should have been here. Fuck I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have pushed you away. Just please open your eyes.” Alex was full-on crying now.

“Alex. Alex! What happened?” Luke asked, grabbing Alex’s shoulder.

“I-I-I don’t know. I was looking for him and I-I found him on the ground a-a-and he’s not opening his eyes. I-I can’t move him. God, I don’t know what to do.”

“Here, Alex, move. I’ve got him.” Luke said. The bigger jock picked up Charlie bridal-style and moved him carefully but quickly to a safer spot, under some trees. Alex quickly followed after him, calling 9-1-1.

“Please Charles, I need you.” Alex continued. He was panicking. He should have been there. He should have protected him. This beautiful, sweet, and incredible boy looked so helpless, and he didn’t know what to do. He only knew he wanted Charlie to open his bright blue eyes and look at him, and tell him everything was going to be alright.

“Alex, hey. He’s gonna be ok.” Luke said. Alex was pretty sure this was the first time he had ever called him by his first name

“You don’t know that!"

“Yes I do,” he said, grabbing on to his shoulders, making Alex focus on him, so he could try and calm him down.

“Woah...y-you really have a-a thing for j-jocks, huh,” Charlie said, slowly waking up. 

He was trying to sit up, and Alex shot down to his side and pushed his chest so he would stay down. “No, I only have a thing for you. H-hey don’t try to get up. We need to wait for the paramedics to get here, so they can see how bad that beautiful head of yours is.” Alex was whispering so no one but Charlie could hear him, even though no one else was really around where they were, since Luke had taken them away from the chaos.

“Hey Saint George, how you doin’ buddy, Luke said, squatting down to Charlie’s other side.

“Fuck my h-head hurts,” he said, squinting his eyes.

“What happened?” Alex said, holding Charlie’s hand, and rubbing his head.

“I-I was… uh... Fuck I-I don’t remember. I j-just remember uh... Clay getting up on Boland’s c-car and then everyone going b-back into the fight.” he said. Alex was getting worried since he was 1. Unconscious, 2. He can’t remember what happened, And 3. He was stuttering a lot.

“Hey, I think the ambulance just got here, I'll run and grab them,” Luke said, getting up and running over to where the ambulance was.

“Alex was squeezing Charlie’s hand pretty hard now. He was so worried about him. What if something happens? What if he loses him? He could have a brain bleed and they wouldn’t know.

“Hey, Alex. Y-you have that really w-worried look on your f-face. I-I’m fine. I’m going to b-be fine, I promise. Look at m-me. You d-don’t need to worry about m-” Charlie was interrupted by Alex pressing his lips into his own.

“W-well that was s-supprising,” Charlie said, smiling.

“Supprising good or surprising bad,” Alex said, remembering their first kiss.

Charlie reached up and pulled Alex down to him by his neck, locking lips again. And just like last time, this time it was more passionate.

“Hey, love birds. I hate to interrupt but I think you might want to let the paramedics do their thing,” Luke said, smiling at the two boys.

Alex’s head whipped around to look at him “y-yeah ok,” Alex said, a little shocked as he came back to the real world.

The paramedics assessed Charlie and said it was probably just a bad concussion but they wanted to take him to the hospital to be sure. While all of this was happening, Alex called Charlie’s dad to inform him of what had happened. 

\---

Luke drove himself and Alex up to the hospital. 

“Hey, I can’t stay, my mom is worried and I have to get home,” Luke said as they arrived at the hospital. 

“O-ok” Alex replied. He was only half paying attention because the other half of his brain was focused on worrying about Charlie.

When Alex walked inside the ER, he walked up to the front desk started talking to one of the nurses. “Hi, I’m looking for Charlie..uh Charles Saint George.” 

“Ok, are you family?” he asked

“Oh, uh no”

“Well then I’m sorry, I can't tell you any information about a patient unless your family”

“Oh...uh, ok,” Alex said, very disappointed. So he went to the gift shop because he couldn’t sit still. There he found a teddy bear that had a giant cookie in its hands, and it said “I hope you get better  _ bear _ _y_ soon.” seeing it made Alex laugh, and it obviously reminded him of Charlie, so he bought it and went back up to the ER waiting room. 

About 20 minutes later, while he was still pacing around the waiting area, bear in his arms, he heard a worried man say “yes, Hi, uh... I’m looking for my son, Charles Saint George, h-he’s uh sixteen. Can you tell me where he is?”

Alex looked over and listened to what the nurse was saying.

“Yes sir, let me see. Ok, he’s in exam room 3 right now. So you can wait in the waiting area, and I’ll come to get you when you can see him,” he told Mr. St. George. “Someone else was asking for him, he’s in the waiting room as well” the nurse pointed at Alex.

When Mr. St. George walked up to Alex, he looked at him. “H-hello Mr. Saint George, um...we spoke on the phone, I’m Alex, Alex Standall, it’s nice to meet you,” he said as he held out his hand for him to shake.

“Oh, Alex. I’ve heard a lot about you. Charlie really likes you” he shook his hand.

Alex nodded and looked at the ground because he didn’t want Charlie’s dad to see his cheeks that are now bright red.

They both sat down and talked a little bit, just the everyday introductory stuff.

About 20 minutes later, the nurse called for Charlie’s dad and it was just Alex, who had stood up and started pacing again. 

_**SWITCH TO CHARLIE** _

“Hey, buddy. How you feelin’?” Charlie opened his eyes and saw his dad next to his bed.

“M-my head hurts. But I’m o-ok” Charlie said

"What happened? I know there was a riot at the school because I’ve been getting so many questions from parents, but why did you get mixed up in all of this?” his dad asked.

“Because Dad, I w-wasn’t just going t-to stand there while my friends g-got hurt."

“You’re lucky football season is over, or you’d be sitting out for a long time." he said, he was really upset.

“I know.”

“That’s just so stupid. You’re smarter than this Charlie."

“I’m s-sorry.”

“I know, but son, you mean the world to me, no, you _are_ the world to me, and if something worse had happened… if I lost you…” he paused.

“I know, I’m sorry D-Dad, I really am.” 

“Just, you have to be more careful than this.”

“I will be, I-I promise,” he reassured him.

Charlie and his dad talked for a while, then...

“Do you have a friend named Alex?”

“Oh… uh yeah. He’s m-my friend...” Charlie said he was taken off guard by Alex’s name.

“He’s the one who called me. And I think he’s still here. Do you want me to send him in while I go talk to the doctors?”

“Yes please,” Charlie was so happy when his dad told him that Alex was there. He didn’t leave. He stayed for him. 

Charlie saw Alex in the doorway not too long after that.

“Hey, you stayed.”

“Yeah, of course, I did, and after today, I’m never going to leave you again,” Alex walked in and sat down on Charlie’s bed and held his hand.

“What is that?” Charlie asked.

“Oh, this? This is for you. I saw the cookie and I just couldn’t help myself,” Alex said as he handed the bear to Charlie.

Charlie laughed and hugged the bear, “thank you so much, it’s perfect.”

Alex was looking down, tears in his eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Charlie said in a concerned tone.

“It’s just, I feel so horrible for not being there. I should have been there for you, but I was an idiot and I fucked it up by pushing you away, and now you’re hurt and-”

“Stop,” Charlie interrupted, “this is not your fault. And you know what, I don’t even care that you pushed me away anymore. As long as you’re here, now, that’s all I care about” Charlie said, squeezing Alex’s hand. He realized that his stutter had gone away since Alex walked through the door. He calmed him and his brain down, just by being there.

“So, I have a question,” Alex said.

“Shoot.”

“What are we going to do about Luke?” he asked

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he saw us kissing.”

“Luke already knew about you and me” he answered.

“Wait, you told him?” Alex quickly asked.

“No, actually he picked up on it I guess, you know, he’s a lot more observant than people give him credit for.”

"Luke? Luke Holliday? Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?”

"Yeah, he was all like. 'The last time you were acting like this was with Betty, and I saw your face after you were talking to him, so I assumed’ and I was just as surprised as you are," Charlie said as he laughed.

“Ok, oh so that’s why he glared at me,” He realized

“Oh shit, yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, I was just afraid that you told him about the whole Bryce thing.”

“Alex, you know I would never do that to you. Right?” Charlie wondered.

“Yeah I know, I was just anxious, like always.”

“Come here.”

Charlie pulled Alex into a tight hug.

“You’re so sweet,” Alex told him.

“Thanks.”

“No but seriously, you’re literally the sweetest person ever. Why do you want to be with me?" Alex asked. Charlie got frustrated when he heard this.

“Because I want to, that’s why. I’m not going to do this whole ‘omg Charlie I don’t deserve you’ shit, because you do. And I want to be with you, so you’re stuck with me” he said aggressively

“Ok then… I may have to take back that whole sweet thing if you’re gonna give me that much sass.” Alex said, shocked at how Charlie had said that to him.

The boys laughed and talked until Charlie’s dad came back.

“Hey Charlie, guess what? Looks like you’ll be going home tonight, but you have to be woken up every 2 hours,” he told him.

“Ok, sounds good” Charlie replied.

Ok, get your stuff ready, get dressed and I’ll meet you at the front.” his dad instructed him.

“Yes sir.” 

Alex left because he ‘didn’t want to be in the way’ which was disappointing, but he understood. He packed up his stuff, got dressed, and met his dad downstairs like he was told to, and he made sure to grab Alex’s bear. Once they got home Charlie fell asleep in his bed.

\---

Two hours later Charlie’s dad woke him up.

“Hey Charlie, you good?” His dad asked.

“Y-yeah,” he said, groggy from having just woken up.

“You sleep like you're dead.” another familiar voice said.

“A-Alex?” Charlie said while yawning.

“Yeah, I asked Alex to come over, because I have to go up to the school. The boosters called an emergency meeting because of the riot, and I have to be there.”

“Ok, sounds good,” Charlie said, hiding just how excited he was.


	6. Satisfaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2 of 3(maybe 4... oops) of what happened between S4E8 & S4E9.  
> LOTS OF FLUFF.

**_Honestly, this chapter is just from both of their POVs for the whole thing._ **

After his dad closed his door to leave, Charlie almost tackled Alex with a kiss. “Hello, nice to see you too,” Alex said.

“I’m so happy you’re here!”

“Hey hey hey, lay down. You need to rest.”

“Fine, but will you lay down with me?” Charlie asked with flirty eyes.

“I guess, but Charles. You should count yourself lucky, I never sleep with a person on the first date,” Alex said while laying down face to face with Charlie.

“Oh trust me, I know I’m lucky,” Charlie slowly pulled Alex closer and kissed him passionately.

“Ok, well,” Alex said after they broke apart, “I’ve got the alarms set for 2-hour increments, so we can both go to sleep. Alex kissed Charlie on the forehead and turned around so they were facing the same direction, then Charlie pulled him in, spooning him as they fell asleep.

\---

After the first two-hour alarm went off and he went to wake Charlie up, he just looked at his face. He was so beautiful. And he wanted him. Alex couldn’t believe how lucky he was to find such an amazing guy, who wanted to be with him despite all of the fucked up things he’s done. He wanted to be around him all the time. Was this love? It was way too early to say anything...oh shit, he has to wake him up.

Alex lightly shook Charlie’s shoulder, “Hey Charlie, wake up, are you ok?”

“Hmmm, oh, yeah. I’m good” Charlie slowly opened his eyes and looked into Alex’s, then he just smiled. So natural, so beautiful.

“Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?” Alex asked while placing his hand on Charlie’s chest.

Charlie laughed, “um, yeah. You have actually.”   
“Wait, when?” Alex shot up.

Charlie smiled and slowly sat up, on the bed “You don’t remember, but when you were super high after find-my-drink, I was driving you home and you said that I was pretty.” 

“God, fuck me. I didn’t,” Alex said, face-palming.

“Yeah, but it’s better than what happened to me. I confessed that I think about you all the time and want to make you happy, essentially confessing that I had a crush on you. But then when we got to your house, you had fallen asleep and I realized you hadn’t heard me.” Charlie said while placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder and laughing.

“Wait, What?!” Alex laughed, kind of loudly

“Yeah, that night was weird”

“Well, I was right, you are pretty,” Alex told him.

“Oh really?” Charlie said giving Alex a smirk

“Mhmm, for sure,” Alex said leaning in for a kiss

They both giggled as they kissed. The started making out and during all of the feelings, Alex didn’t’ realize what he was doing, but he shifted into Charlie’s lap. Charlie started to lean them back, then *BoNk* Charlie hit his head on the headboard

“AHH, fuck” Charlie said, wincing in pain.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. Shit, are you ok?” Alex asked anxiously. He quickly crawled off of Charlie’s lap.

“Yeah I’m good, it just hurts.” Charlie laughed.

“I think we should go back to sleep” Alex giggled.

“Fine by me, come here,” Charlie quickly pulled Alex into a big hug, then pulled him down next to him with his strong arms.

“You’re so cute,” Alex said, snuggling into Charlie’s hold.

“I try,” Charlie replied, kissing him on the top of the head.

Alex was so happy, that’s all he could think as he fell asleep in Charlie’s arms. Sure, he wasn’t truly happy, that may never happen. But in this moment of time, when he could feel the warmth of _ his  _ arms and body around him, comforting him, he was momentarily happy. And that was perfect.

\---

The second two-hour alarm went off at about 10:30 PM, and Alex immediately woke Charlie up with a kiss. 

“Oh, hello beautiful,” Charlie replied.

“Hello, but that’s too cheesy for me”

“Is this too cheesy?” Charlie asked as he pulled Alex into a kiss

Once they broke apart then Alex replied “oh god that was worse, but I liked it” as he laughed

“Let’s go downstairs, I’m hungry.”

“Ok, letttts go,” Alex said, pushing himself off of the bed.

Once they got downstairs, they had to decide what to eat.

“Ok, so I’ve got stuff to make mac and cheese,” Charlie said, looking in his pantry.

“Ehhhh”

“Ok, sandwiches”

“Ehhhh” Alex repeated

“What about...hmmmm...oooooo I’ve got this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“But what if I hate it?”

“Trust me you won’t.”

“Fine. but I’ll make a side salad so I don’t feel useless.”

“You’re not useless, you’re my muse,” Charlie said kissing his fingers like an Italian chef.

“Oooook,” Alex said sarcastically

While Charlie was letting his dish simmer in the pan, he walked over to Alex and grabbed him from behind like the titanic ‘king-of-the-world’ thing. He thought he’d try it out again, now that he knows it won’t backfire. 

“Mmmmm,” Alex hummed, leaning back comfortably into Charlie’s warm embrace. 

“So you  **_do_ ** like it?”

“What do you mean?” Alex said, turning around, putting his arms around Charlie’s waste.

“The first time you rejected me in the library”

“Oh my god, I totally forgot.” Alex re-lived the moment in his mind and he leaned his forehead on Charlie’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry about that. I feel so horrible for doing that to you.

“Hey, stop that” Charlie put his index finger under his chin and tilted Alex’s head up. You were going through a lot, and even though it hurt me then, I don’t care ‘cause you’re with me now. We’ve been through this once today. We’re ok, and that’s all that matters.

Alex quickly kissed him. Charlie snaked his hands through Alex’s hair. They were pressed flush against each other as they continued to kiss. They slowly moved to where Charlie knew was an open part of the counter, Charlie stopped kissing him and looked at him with what Alex swears is hunger in his eyes. He swiftly picked Alex up and set him on the counter. Next, Alex grabbed Charlie’s waist and pulled him flush against himself, pressing against each other for what felt like an eternity before Charlie aggressively kissed him. Then he was slowly thumbing his jaw to get Alex to expose his neck, once he did, his lips moved down to his neck hitting that sweet spot that made Alex groan with pleasure. The taller boy suddenly stopped, looked in Alex’s eyes then smirked. He walked away to go and finish his dish in the pan.

Alex was speechless as he just watched Charlie walk away. Once he was able to speak again all he said was “you jack ass”

Charlie giggled maliciously “what’d I do?”

“You’re such a fucking tease,” Alex said with a big smile on his face, as he hopped off the counter.   
“What, I didn’t want our food to burn”

“Mmmmhmmmm” Alex hummed, clearly not convinced with his excuse, “well the side salad is almost done, do you want olives or no?”

“Ew, I hate olives”

“You’re kidding”

“I most definitely am not. Olives are repulsiff

“I think you mean repulsi **ve** .”

“Shut up, you know I’m bad at words”

“Bad  _ with  _ words”

“Exactly.” Charlie laughed   
“No anyways, I meant, just… nothing.”

“What is it?” he asked while stirring the food in the pan.

“It’s just that this one tv show I watch ‘How I met your mother’, had this thing called ‘the Olive theory’ Where when one person in the relationship liked olives if it was true love, the other person in the relationship would hate olives.”

“Hmm”

“See it’s stupid”

“No, it’s just I didn’t know you thought about us being in love.”

“Oh, hahaha, yeah...sorta, I don’t know,” Alex said nervously

“Well, I love you so.” charlie said suddenly.

“There you go again with that confidence.”

“Food is ready,” Charlie said, trying to change the topic.

Alex’s mind wandered as he was setting the table with their two table settings. Had he just said that? Did he mean it? I mean it seemed like he did, he just said it so easily. It was effortless, Alex loved that. He kept replaying those words in his mind. It made him smile, then he thought about them here, just making dinner and sleeping in the same bed made Alex think about the future. For once in his life, he could see a future where he may be genuinely happy. He’d never tell anyone that because that would seem selfish after all of the horrible things he had done. He just watched as Charlie moved all of their food over to the table. He thought maybe, just maybe, this was it. This is what he wants. This is his happy ending.

“So what is it?”

“Its Japanese hibachi style zucchini and steak bites, my mos favorite”

“I. Love. Hibachi!”

“I know, Zach told me randomly one time”

“You’re literally the best”, Alex said while sitting down and staring at the food

“I don’t know about that, but thanks.”

“Ok, well you should sit down, your doctor said you shouldn’t be standing for too long.”

“Fine, but here.” Charlie said, “I’ll serve you” he did as he said and served Alex his food.

\---

“OHMYGOD,” Alex said with his mouth full “this is so fucking good”

“Thank you, and the salad is great”

“Oh shut the fuck up, I did jack shit. This is God-tier shit” Alex devoured his plate and went in for seconds. Charlie laughed as he watched him. 

Just then, the door opened. It was Charlie’s dad, finally home from the board meeting.

“Hey Dad, we saved you some dinner.”

“Mmmm, this was your mom’s favorite, it’s so good!”

“So good” Alex repeated with his mouth still full.

Charlie laughed “yeah dad, you better hurry up and eat some before Alex eats all of it”

“Will do, so what’d you boys do while I was gone?”

The boys made some awkward eye-contact with each other before Charlie eventually said “oh, uh we just napped”

“Yeah, uh... I just slept on the floor upstairs, while Charlie slept in his bed,” Alex added.

“Well that’s nice, you boys did have a stressful day, but I have some news. During the meeting today, Dean Foundry suggested that they close down the school for a week” his dad said. “They were going to just suspend all students that were involved, but then they realized that basically all of the students were. So, they just decided this was the best course of action for the circumstances.”

“Wow, ok. Well, at least I’ll be able to heal faster since I’ll be resting more.” Charlie added, trying to shed some light on the situation.

“Ok, well I can’t really talk about any more of this or I’ll get in trouble since this is ‘official school board business’”

Alex had just finished his food, doing everything but lick his plate, as Charlie’s dad was eating his salad. 

“you know, Charlie’s mom hated olives, I never understood that. I’ve always loved them.” his dad said.

“Thank you! They are awesome” Alex said.

Charlie smiled as he remembered what Alex had said about the olive theory. “Ok well were gonna go back upstairs and uh… play video games”

“Ok, Alex are you going to stay the night?”

Alex stood there silently staring at Charlie, wondering what to say.

“Yes, yes he is,” Charlie said, pushing Alex towards the stairs.

“Ok well, don’t sit to close to the tv, and turn the brightness down, and make sure to stop playing if your head starts to hurt” Charlie’s dad yelled at him as the walked up the stairs.

“Yes sir,” Charlie shouted down the stairs.

“You know, you act a lot like him”

“Shut up, I do not”

“Come on, you’re just as overprotective” he pointed out.

“No, I’m not” Charlie repeated.

“Ok,” Alex said sarcastically.

They entered Charlie’s room and Charlie quickly closed the door and grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled him into his arms and kissed him nice and softly.

“I’ve been wanting to do that.”

“Thank you,” Alex said as he laughed. 

They made out for about 5 minutes before Alex asked him, “are you afraid of what people will think?”

“What do you mean?

“Well I mean, are you afraid of what people will think about us, together, you: the quarterback and captain of the football team, this town’s golden boy. With me: the town’ fuck-up who shot himself in the head, but didn’t finish the job”

“Alex, seriously don’t say that. You’re not the towns fuck up and it’s not that you ‘didn’t finish the job’, you got a miracle, that saved you and now I get to be with you because of it. And honestly, I don’t give a shit what they think, I love you and that’s all that matters.

There he goes, saying that again, so easily, so pure. Alex wasn’t sure yet, and because it was him, he didn’t want to say it when he wasn’t sure. He could tell that this relationship was special and he didn’t want to mess it up.

“Ok, enough of this, let’s go to sleep, I’m tired again”

“Sounds perfect,” Alex said with a grin, “can I borrow some shorts and a t-shirt, I dont like sleeping in this t-shirt and these jeans”

Of course, you can, here” charlie said while throwing Alex a larger t-shirt and a pair of boxers.

Alex put them on and he looked H O T according to Charlie. The shirt was way too big on him and it went past the boxers, so he looked super cute and sexy in them.

“I feel ridiculous,” he said once he came out of Charlie’s bathroom.

“Well I for one, think it’s adorable,” Charlie said as he sat down on his bed.

“Oh do you” Alex replied as he walked over to Charlie, standing in between his legs while looking down at him seductively.

“Mmmhmmm” Charlie hummed as he pulled Alex down, to get him to straddle his legs on the bed. 

“You’re really getting lucky Saint George. I’ve never done this with anyone before”

“You’ve never done what?”   
“Well, I never borrowed Jess’s clothes,” Alex said as he laughed

“Well if you did, I think we’d be having a completely different conversation” charlie replied

Alex then pulled him into another kiss “god you’re hot” he said while stroking his muscular chest

“Well, you’re sexy too,” Charlie said, then he bit his lip. Charlie grabbed Alex's ass and pulled him ever closer so he was pressing up against him. 

“Ok, I love this, so much and can’t believe I’m saying this, but we have to go to sleep, it’s like 12:00”

“Fiiiiinnneeee,” Charlie said reluctantly.

They both played down in his bed, Alex snuggling up to Charlie.

Charlie kissed Alex’s head, “are you my boyfriend now? Like, are we together?”

“Do you really need to ask that question?”

“Well, the last time I assumed we were a thing, didn’t go over well with you so I thought I’d ask.”

“Charles Hayden Brixton Saint George, you are my boyfriend,” Alex said while smiling and looking into Charlie’s beautiful blue eyes.

As they laid there silently, falling asleep together. Charlie looked down at Alex, his boyfriend, and then he thought, this is what he wanted. After everything that happened with his mom, and all of his confusion about his sexuality. This was it, this was his happy ending, and he was confident about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you would like to give me some suggestions for what t put in the next chapter that would be greatly appreciated. : )


End file.
